Category Archives: bodyimage

Weight Loss Resistance & Reverse Dieting Podcast Episode is out!

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I’m honored to be a guest on the ‘The Less Stressed Life Podcast’ this week!

We talk about periodized nutrition which includes the concept of reverse dieting and the psychological and physiological side of this and why it’s so important.
Each one of us has a different metabolic identity, depending on past and current behaviors, without proper context and nuance to your own individual situation to apply the concepts of ‘pro-metabolic’, it’s easy to end up doing too much too fast, entering into a “reverse diet” without actually intending to. There are factors that MUST be considered before increasing calories in a reverse diet.

In short, if you have a history of restrictive eating and/or a compromised digestive system and low metabolic rate, this will cause unwanted weight gain.

Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Read the Blog post here.

Click to listen on your fav app! 👂🏽 🔊

KEY TAKEAWAYS:
•What is periodized nutrition?
•What is reverse dieting and who is it for?
•Disguising food relationship issues with nutrition and fitness
•Red flags that you have disordered eating
•You’ve got to earn the right to diet!
•The importance of a maintenance phase
•Metabolic and hormonal adaptations of chronic dieting
•How body appreciation and gratitude are core elements of improving body image, not weight loss.

#reversedieting#reversediet#prometabolic#thyroidhealth#dietculturedropout#nutritionist#nutritioncoach#weightlossresistance#podcasting#podcastersofinstagram#podcast#nutritionpodcast#onlinenutritioncoach

The Biggest Loser Study and the metabolic consequences of extreme dieting

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The Biggest Loser study suggests that extreme dieting comes with consequences. Reduce your calories to an extreme and your body will likely fight back. Maybe for years. The severity and duration of your fat loss program can be the main drivers of metabolic adaptation.


🔄You should not diet continuously. Nutritional periodization (diet breaks, maintenance, and reverse diet phases) is an effective mitigation strategy for some of these adaptations.

ℹ️ For more info check out the two pinned posts and my story highlight “Earn your right to diet.” 👀 On Instagram profile!

Let’s master healthy self-talk and body image, optimize your metabolism, build muscle, and live life! And if the time comes when we can enter a fat loss phase, it will be an easier & HEALTHIER process!

Disclaimer: The Biggest Loser is a reality TV show. It’s not a controlled scientific research experiment. In this study, researchers are trying to make sense of what happened after the fact. The participants reported maintaining the Biggest Loser-approved nutrition regimen and exercise level over the six-year period. Yet, self-reported data is statistically unreliable. Enquire 1(1): 75-94 ©The Author, 2008.

Additional longitudinal studies need to be done quantifying the interrelationships between various components of energy expenditure and energy intake to better understand the dynamics of human body weight regulation.

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

Or check out:

A masterclass to help you feel empowered by your body, improve your metabolic health with weightlifting, and make exercise a natural part of your life!

PMID: 27136388
‘Biggest Loser’ Contestant Kai Hibbard Slams NBC Reality Show as ‘Fat-Shaming Disaster’ (thewrap.com)
Case study: The Biggest Loser. Is it impossible to sustain weight loss in the long term? (precisionnutrition.com)

TAGS:

#biggestloser #biggestloserstudy #metabolicadaptation #metabolism #dietbreak #nutritionperiodization #slowmetabolism #onlinepersonaltrainer #onlinefitnesscoach #fitnessjourney

Are popular fitness lifestyles destroying our fertility?

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𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳!

In Summer of 2020, my health began to take a dive. Years of chronic dieting, over-exercising, negative self-talk, and hormonal birth control was taking its toll. I was eating next to no carbs, minimal sugar, low fat, no dairy, lean protein only, working out 6 days a week, hours of cardio & felt terrible physically, mentally and emotionally. I began to take a hard look at the way I was living/eating/training and how it was working against my physiology.

When I began my healing journey and found the “pro-metabolic” community, I wasn’t looking for more diet dogma, but to improve my overall metabolic function and support progesterone creation and a healthy ovulation. Gaining weight was a necessary part of the equation. and when Discussing this with @fundamental.nourishment she brought this research to my attention 🤓

We can easily fall into the traps of the diet and fitness industry. We constantly chase perfection and the desire to alter our bodies because we live with the belief that we are not good enough. We want to be a smaller size, a smaller number on the scale.

Recreating the relationship that we have with exercise and why we do it, is one of the most important aspects of shifting from restrictive-driven behaviors to cultivating a happy and lasting lifestyle that is pleasant to keep up.

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

Or check out:

A masterclass to help you feel empowered by your body, improve your metabolic health with weightlifting, and make exercise a natural part of your life!

❤️


#womenshealth #prometabolic #prometabolicnutrition #prometabolicfitness #fitnessandfertility #fertility #womensfitness #dietculturedropout #hormonehealth #hormonebalance #fitnessforwomen #onlinenutritioncoach #onlinefitnesscoach #workoutplan #metabolism #progesterone

Diet Culture Fitness VS Body Neutral Fitness

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Where my diet culture drop outs at? 🙋🏻‍♀️

Re-evaluating our approach to fitness and exercise is a crucial part of any journey. But just because something like strength training or HIIT cardio can be abused, doesn’t make it “bad”.

Each one of us has a different metabolic identity, depending on past and current behaviors, and it can be very difficult to convey context and nuance for each individual through a social media post.

As you know, my message centers on shifting away from the diet culture mentality, over exercising, and “earning” your food, and refocusing on learning to properly and intentionally nourish, appreciate & respect your body.

We can easily fall into the traps of the diet and fitness industry. We constantly chase perfection and the desire to alter our bodies because we live with the belief that we are not good enough. We want to be a smaller size, a smaller number on the scale.

I’ve learned these lessons the hard way, as I’ve shared my fitness/health journey coming from a fitness/bodybuilding competition background & the health repercussion of competing.

Recreating the relationship that we have with exercise and why we do it, is one of the most important aspects of shifting from restrictive-driven behaviors to cultivating a happy and lasting lifestyle that is pleasant to keep up.

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!


LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching ❤️

More info on http://www.meganmefit.com

#bodyneutral#dietculturedropout#dietculture#bodyneutralfitness#onlinefitnesscoach#fitnesscoach#onlinenutritioncoach#prometabolic#workoutplan#fitnessjourney#fitnessmotivation#mindsetmatters#prometabolicnutrition#prometabolicfitness#womenshealth

What body appreciation ACTUALLY is

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🚨 SPOILER ALERT 🚨 Weight loss, DOES NOT & WILL NOT improve your body image. It’s body appreciation and gratitude towards the body that are KEY 🔑 in cultivating a positive body image.

Body appreciation is finding value in our body’s functionality and uniqueness as well as appreciating the differences of others. There is a benefit of having body appreciation above and beyond just the absence of a negative body image. After accounting for body dissatisfaction, body appreciation positively influenced self-esteem and coping skills, Intuitive Eating ability, as well as decreasing the risk of eating disorders.

Body appreciation can be present even in the face of dissatisfaction. We can have things we wish we could change about our body while still respecting and appreciating it for the life vehicle it is.

While we all may have our days where we feel awkward or uncomfortable in our bodies, the key to developing a more positive body image is to recognize and respect our natural shape and learn to overpower those negative thoughts and feelings with positive, affirming, and accepting ones.

Please have compassion for yourself as you retrain your thinking. Do not beat yourself up for your insecurities, show yourself patience and gently replace any harsh thoughts you have about yourself with kindness and understanding. Changing deeply ingrained thought patterns takes time, but with consistency, you’ll get there.

Accept yourself. 💕

Accept your body. 💕

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching ❤️

Sources:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.09.006
PMID: 11948650

#bodyimage #bodyimagehealing #bodyimagemovement #bodyimageissues #onlinepersonaltrainer #onlinefitnesscoach #onlinenutritioncoach #dietculturedropout #bodyneutrality #bodyneutralfitness #prometabolic #prometabolicnutrition #fitness #selfhealers #improvebodyimage #eatingdisorderrecovery #disorderedeating

How your monthly cycle can impact body image.

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🌀Body Image & your cycle🌀

Something I’ve noticed with myself & with clients is fluctuating body image days. 🎢

The more we understand about our monthly cycles, the hormonal fluctuations & how they impact everything from our brain chemistry, energy levels and metabolic function, the better we can support our physiology during these more challenging times.

👉🏻Swipe through to learn what the research says, and my tips for working through this!

Have you ever heard of the term & concept cycle syncing? It was created by @alisa.vitti the founder of @floliving and it’s a practice of planning your life according to the phases of your monthly cycle. Like the foods you prioritize. The movement you focus on, the work project you take on, the social activities you commit to & so forth. It’s more intuitive than you may think!

❤️

Listening to @hormonehealingrd Are you Menstrual podcast 🔊 is informative as well!

✌🏼Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching ❤️

#bodyimage#bodyimagemovement#bodyimageissues#bodyimagehealing#onlinepersonaltrainer#onlinepersonaltraining#onlinenutritioncoach#nutritioncoach#pms#pmsproblems#womenshealth#womenshormones#womenshormonalhealth#fitnessjourney#dietculturedropout#period#periodproblems#periodtalk#cyclesyncing#womensupportingwomen#women

Movement creates HOPE! Let’s talk myokines aka ‘hope molecules’!

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❔Did you know your body can help your brain feel more hopeful through movement?
“Every time we move our muscles, we are giving ourselves an intravenous dose of hope.”— Kelly McGonigal, PhD

💥 Let’s talk The Power of Hope Molecules 💥 Swipe 👉🏻 to learn.

Exercise & movement are about much more than weight loss.

People who are active are:
-Happier & have more life satisfaction
-At a lower risk for things like depression & loneliness
-Better able to cope with stress & anxiety
-Feel more of a sense of purpose & social connection

Among its many life-altering rewards: the generation of hope, happiness, a sense of purpose, greater life satisfaction and rewarding connections with others, are benefits of exercise that go under appreciated.

Emerging research suggests that when exercised, your muscles become “basically a pharmacy for your physical and mental health.”

If you are willing to move, your muscles will give you hope. Your brain will orchestrate pleasure. And your entire physiology will adjust to help you find the energy, purpose and courage you need to keep going.

Recreating the relationship that we may have with exercise and why we do it is one of the most important aspects of shifting from disordered and restrictive-driven behaviors & cultivating a happy and lasting lifestyle that is pleasant to keep up 🤍

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

✌🏼💯LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching

SOURCES:
Psychosomatic Medicine 62:633–638 (2000
PMID: 31142190
PMID: 30627775
Dr. Kelly McGonigal

#mentalhealth #myokines #muscles #moveyourbody #bodyneutral #dietculturedropout #onlinepersonaltrainer #personaltrainer #personaltraining #fitnesscoach #hopemolecules #fitness #hope #antidepressant #strengthtrainingforwomen #prometabolic #exercisemotivation #fitnessmotivation #womenshealth #resilience #trauma #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #explorepage #movementismedicine

Unhealthy relationship with exercise VS a healthy one👇🏻

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Exercise addiction is a state characterized by a compulsive engagement in any form of physical exercise, despite negative consequences.

While regular exercise is generally a healthy activity, exercise addiction generally involves performing excessive amounts of exercise to the detriment of physical health.

It may also involve a state of dependence upon regular exercise, which involves the occurrence of severe withdrawal symptoms when the individual is unable to exercise.

Exercise addiction shows a high comorbidity with eating disorders with approximately 39-48% of people that have an eating disorder being addicted to exercise.

TLDR: An unhealthy relationship with exercise tends to involve rules and rigidity, be joyless, shame-based, and shame inducing.

A healthy relationship with exercise tends to be flexible and fulfilling. It varies in the type of movement we are doing and the amount of time we are devoting to that activity.

Over a year ago when the gyms shut down, it illuminated that I had obsessive compulsive exercise behaviors. I NEEDED the gym. It was my therapy. Now I know, therapy is therapy. And while exercise can enhance our mental state, for me how I was doing it, was destroying my mental & physical health.

🙌🏼Freedom is exactly what I wanted, I wanted to live my life full of joy and experiences, outside of obsessing about my food and workouts.

🙌🏼And now I am doing just that.

💯 I choose every day to nourish my body, to eat enough food, I give myself plenty of permission for rest days, I strength training 4 times a week max. My health is improving, my soul is thriving! Patience is 🔑

Looking for more support navigating your cycle with fitness & nutrition? Check out my FREE guide & pro-metabolic strength training guide available for purchase!

LINK to apply for 1:1 coaching 💛

#onlinepersonaltrainer#personaltrainer#healthylifestyle#relationshipwithexercise#fitnessmotivation#dietculturedropout#dietculture#onlinefitnesscoach#fitnesscoach#disorderedeatingrecovery#disorderedeating#nourishyourbody#movementismedicine

You’ve got to earn your right to diet PART 2 Reverse dieting & Nutrition periodization

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It’s common for new clients to hire a personal trainer wanting to lose weight (fat loss). While I understand the desire to do this, we can and will get there..
⁣
We usually have to enter a different kind of approach before we can actually “diet” for fat loss because ⁣our first intention must be to achieve optimal psychological & physiological baselines.⁣

Most clients have struggled with yo-yo dieting, binge eating, poor relationship with food, negative body image and sporadic consistency with their workouts.
When we first discuss the concept of dieting in reverse, they are naturally hesitant because it’s quite different than what they are used to. 😲

The amazing part throughout this process they realize that achieving maintenance is a massive progress flex! 💪🏻 It still requires lots of effort and consistency.

In maintenance phase you experience:

🔘Better sleep
🔘Improved performance
🔘More muscle
🔘Not 🤔 about 🥘 all the time
🔘Stable energy
🔘Less mood swings😃
🔘Ability to be social🥂
🔘Restore hormone balance
🔘Increased libido😈

It’s important to spend enough time optimizing your metabolism, building muscle, and enjoying your life, so that when & if the time does come to enter a diet phase, things will be easier, an the progress will be sustainable.

Curious to see what this process looks like for you? Apply for coaching here ✌🏼

#onlinepersonaltrainer#personaltrainer#onlinenutritioncoach#nutritioncoach#nutritionist#nutritionperiodization#reversedieting#reversediet#maintenancephase#chronicdieting#dietculturedropout#sustainablenutrition#eattonourish#nourishyourbody#fitnesscoach#newyorkfitness#hudsonvallyny#newyorkpersonaltrainer

What is body neutral fitness?

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Have you ever thought about WHY you are engaging in your fitness & nutrition routine?

🧠Intention is is a mental state that represents a commitment to carrying out an action or actions in the future. Intention involves mental activities such as planning and forethought.

Body Neutral Fitness is shifting the intention behind WHY you want to workout.

Instead of aesthetics being the main intention, the focus is more on how you want to FEEL and cultivating a more positive body image through developing body appreciation

It can be easy to fall into the trap of pointing out what you are insecure about, or hearing someone else do the same. But try to avoid this, or at least notice when you are doing it and how it makes you feel. Redirect the conversation to another topic

Body neutral fitness is about nourishing our bodies with foods full of vitamins and nutrients that you need, but also not depriving ourselves of delicious treats. We do not engaging in restrictive dieting behaviors.

Exercise is not meant to be a punishment. If your body needs a rest day, then give it a rest day. I work closely with my clients to build their programming with activities that they enjoy. More recreation, more walks and MORE FUN!

For me, I’ve spent years dieting and exercising to change my body and make her look a certain way. To be accepted. To be seen as worthy. 

I’ve torn down my old identity and entire sense of self and rebuilt a new version from the ashes of who I once was.

I’ve shared a bit about this process, how a lot of it revolved around SELF-ESTEEM and improving my concept of self.

Contrast can be an amazing teacher. When we experience things we do NOT want or like, it provides clarity and insight into what we DO want.

🌱You’ve got to CHOOSE growth 🔝
We can either go through life, or GROW through it. 🌱

Growth hurts. & it’s always worth it. It’s also never ending. 📈

Health is not a destination that you “arrive” to and stay. 📍

It’s a flowing, growing, shifting, seasonal journey. 🗺

This past year I’ve done some deep soul digging to rebuild my identity around fitness to be coming from a place of excitement and joy !

“The deeper your why, the higher you fly” 🦋

Ready to make the shift into Body neutral fitness? Apply for coaching HERE